Bites from other Blogs

The first thing I noticed about A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen‘s Roasted Tomato & Vidalia Onion Tart was the big chunks of crispy bacon that went into it, adding a smokiness and enriching the flavor of the dish. Bacon aside, the tart is made with fresh, roasted tomatoes and sweet, roasted onions. The veggies (and bacon) are layered with both cheddar and gruyere cheeses and cooked until everything sort of melds together into a delicious summer tart.

Most of the time, ice cream sandwich cookies are made with chocolate, oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies, as they have a flavor that will go with most flavors of ice cream. The Snickerdoodle Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches fromTartelette stand out because they use an ice cream that is not vanilla and a cookie that has a little more spice to it, as well. The spiciness of the cinnamon from the cookies goes well with the bright lemon ice cream, and all together, this is a very refreshing ice cream sandwich. Unlike most snickerdoodle recipes, this cookie dough is rolled out before baking, so you can cut it into different shapes to make the sandwiches a little more interesting.

If you’re getting tired of making the same old quickbreads all the time, Cooking with Amy‘s Kiwi Matcha Lime Tea Cake might be just the change of pace you need. This green-tinged cake uses a little matcha (green tea powder), a little lime zest and a lot of fresh kiwis. The result is a not-too-sweet and slightly tangy cake with a little bit of a tropical feel to it. Amy also points out that one kiwi has “more than 100% recommended daily allowance of vitamin C and contains potassium, fiber, magnesium, vitamin E and is low in carbohydrates,” which provides plenty of reasons – in addition to overall flavor – that it is a good idea to indulge in a second slice of this cake.

The Oatmeal Shortcakes with Plums from Pastry Studio are a great take on more traditional strawberry shortcake. The shortcakes are a lot like scones or biscuits and have a nuttiness to them, thanks to the oats. They’re light, not dense, but still give a heartier feeling to the shortcake overall. Instead of strawberries, these shortcakes have tender, sweet plums that have been lightly cooked with a bit of sugar to release their juices into a nice sauce.

The Food Librarian put together one of the easiest pie recipes possible. Her Donut Peach Galette is little more than a fresh peach (a donut or saturn peach, specifically) wrapped in a circle of pie crust and baked with a little sugar. You have to eat around the pit from the fruit, but the dessert is well worth it, with the flavor of roasted peaches and a bit of crisp pastry dough to complement it and catch any excess juices. The finished galettes look elegant and are a great way to enjoy fresh peaches. They can be made with other fruits, too, as long as you cook them until the fruit is tender.